How to fix your Samsung Galaxy S9 that keeps losing signal, service drops problem (easy steps)

Intermittent signal or service drops in mobile devices can occur any time. The problem can be attributed to a software error affecting network services on the phone or it could be due to a network problem on your service provider’s end. In worst case scenarios, your device may often lose service or network signal due to hardware damage like when the network antenna or any other tangible relevant components was damaged from accidental drops or liquid exposure on the phone.

Hardware-related signal issues would usually require service or physical repair while those triggered by software glitches can be remedied at home by some workarounds. The solutions I have mapped out in this context are intended to address a similar issue on the new Samsung Galaxy S9 handset. This should serve as free reference to whoever needs to fix a Samsung S9 that keeps losing signal or often experiencing service drops. Read on to learn more.

Before going further, if you found this post because you were trying to find a solution to your problem, then try to visit our Galaxy S9 troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed most of the commonly reported issues with the phone. We’ve already provided solutions to some of the problems reported by our readers so try to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you and if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit.

How to fix Galaxy S9 that keeps losing service or signal

Before you start performing any “fixes” or troubleshooting procedures, verify and ensure that you are using your phone in an area that’s within your network coverage. It’s normal to experience signal drops in out of coverage areas. If the problem persists regardless of where you are while using your phone, then you’ve got a problem to fix. Feel free to try any of the given solutions below whenever you’re all set to begin.

First solution: Reboot your phone (soft reset).

Network problems as the one depicted by signal drops or intermittent service can be triggered by random errors that can be rectified by a device restart or soft reset. Aside from clearing out minor glitches, it also helps refresh the internal memory thus giving your device a fresh start. Here’s how it’s done:

Press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons simultaneously for about 10 to 20 seconds.
Release both buttons when the phone restarts.

A soft reset does not affect any of your personal information and other critical data stored on the phone so no need to worry about data loss in the process.

Second solution: Turn Airplane mode on and off.

Toggling Airplane mode on and off is a simple old trick that has helped a lot people who have dealt with various connectivity issues including the ones associated with service or signal. It’s another way to restart all network connectivity features on the phone at once. Here’s how to do so:

Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
Tap Settings.
Then tap Connections.
Tap Airplane Mode.
Tap the Airplane Mode switch to turn the feature on for about 30 seconds.
After the elapsed time, tap the Airplane mode switch again to turn the feature off.

Restart your phone and see if that fixes the problem. If not, then move on to the next solution.

Third solution: Remove and reinstall SIM card.

A faulty SIM card installation can also be the main reason why your phone may not be able to establish a stable connection to cellular networks. To rule this out, try to remove and reseat the SIM card on your phone with these steps:

Turn your phone off completely.
Insert the ejector tool into the hole on the SIM/microSD card tray and then gently push until the tray pops out.
Take the SIM/microSD card tray out from the phone.
Remove the SIM card from the tray then check for any visible signs of damage like scratches.
If the SIM card looks fine, place it back into the SIM card tray with the gold contacts facing down.
Insert the SIM/microSD tray back into the slot.

Once you have everything secured in place, restart your phone to refresh apps and system functions.

Fourth solution: Reset settings/network settings on your Samsung S9.

Resetting settings particularly network settings on the phone can be a potential solution should the problem is triggered by incorrect network settings. You may not be aware of it but some updates can override your phone settings automatically upon installing them and so you will just find out that something’s wrong when you bumped into an error. As resolution, you can reset your phone settings to restore the defaults and then reconfigure your network afterwards. Here’s how it’s done:

Swipe up on an empty spot from the Home screen to open the Apps tray.
Tap Settings.
Tap General Management.
Tap Reset.
Select the option to Reset settings.
Alternatively, you can try to Reset network settings to restore network defaults on your phone. It also helps especially if the problem is attributed to an incorrect network setting on your device.
Tap Reset Settings again to continue.
Enter your device PIN, if prompted.
Tap Reset Settings to confirm settings reset.

Wait until the reset is finished and your phone reboots.

Fifth solution: Hard reset (factory reset) your Samsung S9.

A full system reset might be the key to fixing the problem if it’s triggered by a more complex error in the phone system. Be sure to note though that all your personal information and critical data will be deleted in the process. As an output, you’ll have an all-clean, bug-free Samsung S9 again so it’s worth a shot. Should you wish to proceed, then refer to these steps:

Back up your phone data by going to Apps-> Settings-> Cloud and accounts-> Backup and restore. Then select the option to Back up my data or Automatic restore.

After creating a backup, proceed and perform a factory reset with these steps:

Tap Settings.
Tap General management.
Tap Reset.
Select Factory data reset.
Tap Reset to continue.
Then tap Delete All to confirm.
If prompted, enter your credentials or verify your Samsung account and password to proceed and complete the reset.

Other suggestions

Boot your phone into safe mode. Some third-party apps can also cause the same conflict with the phone’s service or signal reception. In this case, you can try running your phone in safe mode. All third-party apps and services are temporarily disabled in this mode so it will be easier for you to determine whether or not they’ve got something to do with it. Follow these steps to enable and use safe mode on your Samsung Galaxy S9:

Turn your phone off.
Press and hold the Power button after the model name screen shows up on the screen.
Release the Power button when the Samsung logo appears.
Immediately press and hold the Volume Down button after releasing the Power button.
Keep holding the Volume Down button until the phone restarts.
When you see the Safe Mode badge in the bottom left corner of the screen, release the Volume Down button.

If the problem is gone while your phone is in safe mode, then it means a third-party app must have triggered the problem and so you need to remove that bad app.

Update to the latest Android version available. Installing the latest Android update can also help especially if a software bug is inflicting the problem. Updates also contain bug fixes or fix patches to address existing device issues attributed to certain bugs.

To check for and install software update on your Samsung S9 Plus, go to Apps-> Settings-> About phone-> Download updates manually. Wait for your phone to check for updates. Tap OK.
Then tap Start. If prompted with the restart message, tap OK to proceed.

You can also update your Samsung S9 using Smart Switch on a computer.

Remove any casing and phone accessories. Some third-party casing or phone accessories may tend to interfere with the phone’s network signal acquisition thus results to intermittent or unstable signal. Try to remove any phone accessories or casing from your device then see how the signal works without them on.

Seek Further Assistance

Contact your network service provider or carrier to escalate the problem if it persists after exhausting all possible means on your end. It could be a technical problem on their end like service maintenance or network outages. Or you may also reach out to Samsung Support if your think the problem is due to more complex software on the device like when the problem started after installing a new firmware update. Post-update problems need to be escalated for Samsung to roll out the required fix patch in the next update.

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